Thoughts on Winter

On embracing the cold

Snow covered cross country ski trail in Oregon—foothills of Mt. Hood

Aside from the lack of sunlight, I low key love winter. It gives time to reset and is a natural period to reflect on the year. I like to use my birthday (in October) as kind of a first pass to reflect on the year, and then use January as a second pass to set some goals, and think about where I want to travel, and how I want to feel at the end of the next year.

Also, snow is kind of magical. I grew up in Minnesota, so I will always feel a nostalgic sense of magic around snow. But I think that in the right context and with the right attitude, it can be magical for anyone.

Living in Oregon in the winter is very disorienting for me. Things are green, it rains… it’s almost as if I keep waiting for it to get colder.. I keep waiting for the MN winter to hit but then it doesn’t.

I feel like this waiting pattern is something that I have started to let control my life. Always waiting for the next thing. Whether it’s for me to know what I want to do with my life or whether it’s waiting for that next trip to max out my dopamine and make everything better.. for a little while at least.

In 2025, I want to lean into creating a life that I want instead of waiting for the life that I want to just happen to me. This looks like:

• Living in a place that I choose and that brings me joy

• Traveling to places that will hug my soul

• Getting out of the rut of quick dopamine hits and crashes and looking for real and sustained dopamine to fill my life

• Finally building that travel blog! (that I’ve been thinking about for… 6 years?)

• Embracing and strengthening relationships

It snowed in Portland today, which for me was kind of fun! I love a good snow day, and though it looks much different in Oregon vs. Minnesota it was a good reminder to slow down, let things settle, and embrace rest.

I think it can be so easy to hate winter and to complain about the cold and the lack of sunlight, but I also think there is opportunity to really lean into the season and let it direct the pattern of life for a few months.

Also, since this is a travel newsletter—I’m really into winter travel these days. Whether it’s just a day trip to Mt Hood or to the other side of the world. There is something to be said about exploring places in their ‘off season.’

I went to Copenhagen last winter, and it really was pretty magical to experience the city at a slower pace. I feel like I got a deeper cultural experience and the temps hovered around 30-40F and there were a few days of sunshine. There were hardly any other tourists and I was able to get seats at cafes and restaurants easily. I also don’t do well in really hot weather, so summer travel in Europe is just not my jam anyways.

the best cardamom bun, classic Nyhavn, and a sunny day in Malmö

I’m heading to Germany in a few short weeks and I am excited to experience this part of the world during this time of year! Will report back, but I can already say that off season travel is definitely a lil travel hack :)